This shoe metaphor resonated for me. I know that that in 2007, candidate Obama told union workers that as President he would "put on a comfortable pair of shoes myself" and walk the picket line with them:

The reason I'm familiar with Obama's shoe rhetoric is that I saw references to it again and again during the Wisconsin protests. There were "Where's Obama?" signs with reference to shoes and even an effort to get people to mail shoes to Obama:

Let's think about the shoe as a political symbol. Where else have we seen that?

[T]he oft-repeated story that the modern meaning derives from strikers' supposed tactic of throwing old shoes into machinery is not supported by the etymology. Likely it was not meant as a literal image; the word was used in French in a variety of "bungling" senses, such as "to play a piece of music badly."

I have a feeling if GodZero knew anything about black people, he'd realize they haven't been in their slippers the last few years, but wearing out shoe leather trying to find jobs in his lousy economy.

Be interesting to know how that line "resonated" with black people.

WV "ginge" What Gilligan, the Skipper, and the Professor called Miss Louise after a stroll on the far side of the Island.

The most insulting and offensive portion of the clip is the "shake it off" comment. Obama is imploring us to brush off or ignore the fact that his policies have badly hurt the black community and support his re-election bid.

I'm one of the roughly 5 percent who didn't vote for him and as his term progresses my decision looks even more prescient.

Well, Adlai Stevenson PROVED that when you have a very intelligent man, running against a "legend" ... That Dwight D. Eisenhower carefully molded ... You'll see the intelligent man losing every time.

Back then, of course, the "reason" given is that Adlai Stevenson was divorced.

Molding an image is a very interesting affair. It's creating preceptions in others ... the way Brando and Olivier did this in acting parts.

The REAL YOU never shows up on the canvas!

As to what Obama just said to Black people ... (mostly the type who are now back to sitting on their couches ... in ways Oprah would recognize. But it's not good for getting the vote out.)

Obama asked for enthusiasm ... the way rabbis are now asking for donations to their temple. (Rosh Hashanah is coming. (One rabbi once said he wished his building was an accordion. Given how much more room he needs to seat everybody at this time of year.)

As the rabbi said, "now, or never." People who feel guilty give more.

Will the Black communities respond with more enthusiams? Nah.

But it's a great sentence.

And, Obama will be repeating it often enough. Where MLK Jr., made such a thing about his "dream." Obama is gonna rely on "take off your slippers. PUT ON YOUR NIKES. And, jump up for me ... so that my name's the winning name in the basket."

The GOP will be lucky if their nominee ends up with 47%. But the people who believe American politics is a religious experience ... expect too much from Jesus.

With the teabugs and TexPerry rallying--and yokels buying firearms at a record pace---BO's marching rhetoric's not that unpredictable. Rebel flags start flyin' ,and you get a response--dialectical-like

I have a feeling if GodZero knew anything about black people, he'd realize they haven't been in their slippers the last few years, but wearing out shoe leather trying to find jobs in his lousy economy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Maxine Waters says she's not sure who President Barack Obama was talking to when he told black Americans to quit complaining and follow him into the battle for jobs and opportunity.

The California Democrat, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, says she found the president's language "a bit curious." She says Obama didn't address Hispanics in such a blunt manner and would never use that language in a speech to a gathering of gays or Jews."

I've often wondered if blacks will come to the realization that obama has absolutely nothing in common with them.

Quite a few that I work with already have, but don't like to talk about it with white co-workers. I'm not sure how they'll actually vote when alone in the booth, but they're not particularly happy about the way things are going any more than anyone else.

One thing that's conspicuous by it's absence, among the above-mentioned co-workers (truck drivers, dock workers, etc), is the "blaming whitey" line of argument.

Black leaders never lose the black vote. They do, however, lose the black populace, or, at least those that can move out. See Detroit. If Obama wins another term, you will witness a vast migration of blacks to the Republic of Texas.....Bush never looked cooler than when he ducked that shoe.

He's not acting like he's already the president. Of course the CBC are the paragon of the victim mentality, they have no angle but that so Obama is not challenged by giving a sophmoric and utterly unimaginative speech.

AllenS: "I've often wondered if blacks will come to the realization that obama has absolutely nothing in common with them."

This is a great point.

Obama isn't the descendant of slaves. He's barely American, let alone African American. He's only half-black, and he was raised by whites, in Indonesia and Hawaii. He went to private schools in other countries, and was surrounded by radicals and hippies throughout his childhood and adolescence. He has zero in common with the vast majority of African Americans, other than having just a little more melanin in his skin than a Scotsman.

Robert Keegan told me that "sabotage" comes from the Belgian railwaymen's practice of unseating rails from their shoes (sabots) during the great strike of 1905. I have confidently offered that nugget up for nearly 20 years, so I hope it's right.

So the trickle down economic policies of Reagan don't work? Then explain how the trickle down Obama policy of the Government raining money that they have confiscated from the pockets of those people who do pay taxes is going to work? Somehow it is special and will work when the government does it?

DBQ--you should stick to the recipes, or is it meth lab. Trickle down in Reagans' day helped the very wealthy mainly. And that's all it is--help the very wealthy by cutting their taxes and regs on business, and maybe they'll toss you some leftovers. Maybe not. It was only a blip for a year or so (and RR grew the deficit faster than any demo mainly via defense spending)

J - can you believe it? Some people want to remove the statue of Jefferson Davis from the rotunda at the Kentucky Capital building!! Amazing!!

They should.

I don't know why we would build monuments to failed secessionists, or fly their flags. They lost a rebellious war (yes, I know about the Northern aggression) in which they fought against their own countrymen.

===================Had to look that up. The 1st thing listed in the joke was the extreme importance of loose, comfortable shoes to blacks.Obama believes in that. Thinks his black audience joins him in it.

Is it possible Obama will work the other two elements listed in the Earl Butz joke into a program for the black folk?